Disaster on the road.

We spend so much time in our own little world, when do we really live in reality? I realized that when I drive to and fro work (or on any long road trip) I spend less time analyzing the possible dangers around me and more time in my head. Don't get me wrong, I still perceive my surrounding environment, but I take that environment and twist it around in my head. For instance, I had quite a fun adventure driving home from work.

When driving home on the 60 eastbound, it was like any other Friday night; It was not dead stop traffic, but rather an uncomfortable tight flow. As a small silver pick-up truck passes me on the right, he begins to veer slightly to the left.
 He is replying to a text message that invited him to a party later that evening, "be there at...". Thud thud thud thud. His tires begin rolling over the bumps dividing the lanes. He snaps his phone shut and throws it on the empty passenger seat to center himself in his lane again. Unfortunately, this was all to late to prevent disaster.
The young, inexperienced, teenage driver in front of me panics. The thought of this monstrous truck merging into her lane and destroying her hand-me-down Volkswagen Beetle triggers a natural reaction, get the fuck out of the way! Instead of honking to warn the other driver, she snaps left. She miscalculates the pull. Her Beetle bounces off the Toyota Camry, swings back across her lane, and into the next lane, just missing the truck's rear bumper by mere centimeters. As her long, smooth, brunette hair swings back to center, she slams on her breaks.
The trucker approaching sees this distraught Beetle ahead of him. Thirty five years of experience tells him that he does not have enough distance to stop and if he suddenly breaks, the asshole tailgating him may not have enough time to effectively respond. He checks his mirrors. To the right, one car. The small convex mirror shows it to be nearing his passenger door. To the left, a full lane; that is not an option. The car passes. A double check confirms that the right lane is clear. He passes and clears the disaster unfolding.
Driving his 2008 black Mustang, he is given a false sense of power. On the road, he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants... that is until this semi merges and everything is now exposed. He is going to fast. His eyes dilate. He slams the breaks. The Anti-lock Breaking System kicks in spewing smoke and  a streak of rubber on the road to be remembered.

Then of course, I snap back to reality... sitting in dead stop traffic on the 60. The young man is still texting in his truck. The girl in the Beetle still sitting there, looking straight ahead. Everyone is just settled, crawling along in the traffic. Everything is calm in this chaotic mess we call traffic.
So... we all let our imaginations run while we drive. Some people imagine ninjas jumping from car to car, others go into explicit details warping their surroundings.


What goes on in your head to make traveling faster?